Baker’s energy highlights Dakota win

The driving force behind the Dakota Wizards’ Sunday afternoon blowout home victory over the Sioux Falls Skyforce didn’t score in the first half. He finished with all of eight points on the day. But Maurice Baker put on an exhibition of how to leave one’s fingerprints all over a game without being the one finishing the plays.

The 30-year-old point guard set the tone for the Wizards at both ends with a commitment to remaining active every second on the floor. Defensively, he hounded Sioux Falls counterpart David Bailey, refusing him easy entry to the lane and thus saving the Dakota defense from having to collapse in the middle and allow easy kickouts. That Bailey spent most of the day settling for contested jumpers from the outside was no coincidence, and his 2-for-10 day (including an 0-for-6 effort beyond the arc) short-circuited the Sioux Falls attack.

Further, Baker kept his hands moving all day. He had multiple deflections and did a terrific job picking his spots to step in passing lanes to take the ball away. On one screen-and-roll switch in the first half, Baker dropped down in the paint and stripped a cutting Raymond Sykes as the big man tried to catch and extend toward the basket. Not only did Baker finish with a game-high six steals, his frenetic motion catalyzed an active team defense that came up with 18 steals and forced 27 turnovers as a unit.

Those turnovers led to transition opportunities all game long for the Wizards.  Baker pushed the ball relentlessly – one of the most enjoyable parts of watching him play was that he seemed averse to walking the ball up the floor. There was no dawdling behind the timeline, no mix-tape-worthy dribbling exhibition in the backcourt: As soon as he touched the ball, the point guard was already up the floor. Unlike the men he foiled at the other end, Baker had no trouble cruising into the lane and forcing the Sioux Falls defenders to make a choice between him and their respective charges. This led to a plethora of lay-up chances for Dakota’s frontcourt (and we’ll get to Curtis Withers’ performance later) as well as open space from mid-range and the perimeter for Romel Beck and David Bell.

Even though he led his squad without making scoring his hallmark for the day, when the Wizards needed a basket at the most crucial time, Baker took care of that, too. After an inspired effort by the Sioux Falls bench cut a 21-point lead all the way down to six midway through the fourth, Baker corralled a loose ball at the top of the key, evaded a defender with a blink-and-you-missed-it behind-the-back wraparound move and glided into the lane for a 12-foot jumper. Perfect. The bucket began a 6-0 run, and Sioux Falls never threatened again. Baker finished the day with eight points to go with his eight assists, six boards, six steals and just one turnover as the Wiz cruised to a 91-74 victory.

And it all started thanks to the point guard’s refusal to allow himself any moments of inactivity.

Other ruminations from Sunday’s Skyforce-Wizards game:

• Curtis Withers dominated the interior. He looked stronger and more comfortable finishing around the rim than anybody else on the floor, both taking the ball up hard amidst contact and making the most of the open looks afforded him down low thanks to Baker’s penetration. On the heels of Baker’s baby jumper that extended the lead to eight in the fourth quarter, Withers made a basket cut for a dunk and then slammed home an offensive rebound less than three minutes later. Very nice 22-point, 17-rebound day for him.
• Romel Beck has freakishly long arms. They allow him a major advantage in extending to the basket when he attacks the rim, and he looked effective going to the bucket on Sunday. Combining a few strong takes with some touch from the outside, he finished with 22 points on 8-for-11 shooting. Beck needs to stay in control with the ball though, as his efficient shooting was at least slightly offset by sloppiness that caused him to turn the ball over seven times.
• Beck earned himself the title for circus shot of the day after picking up his dribble at the right elbow, taking one step around his man and lofting an underhand shot with his right hand that hit nothing but twine. Creative.
• It’s not every day one gets to witness a carry and a five-second violation called in one quarter of action.  Happened in the first quarter.
• Found myself very surprised at how small a part Reggie Williams played in the Skyforce offense.  Coming off a 29-point season opener (on 10-of-13 shooting, no less), Williams was a non-factor in the first half and finished the day with just eight points on 3-for-7 shooting.  While the Wizards did an effective job defensively, it didn’t look like Sioux Falls made a particularly concerted effort to feature him.
• Leemire Goldmire likes to get the ball up in a hurry.  In 28 minutes off the bench, he led all Skyforce participants with 14 field-goal attempts. At least a few of those shots came off of what seemed to be too much bring-the-ball-up-and-isolate play for my liking, but he did put up 16 points and help raise the defensive intensity during the brief second-half comeback.
• Rookie Raymond Sykes played an impressive game off the Sioux Falls bench.  His offensive arsenal outside the paint leaves a ton to be desired, but he battled inside throughout, collecting five offensive boards and converting several opportunities from short-range.  If only his hair wasn’t so reminiscent of Mikki Moore’s, I’d really like him.

Some quick-hitters from the rest of the weekend:

• Rob Kurz awakens! After going 33 minutes without so much as a field-goal attempt in Friday’s season-opening loss to Erie, Kurz punctuated the rematch with 12 points in the third quarter alone. The former Golden State Warrior looked smooth both inside and out and posted a 16-point, 19-rebound performance in the Fort Wayne Mad Ants’ 93-82 win on Sunday.
• Outside of Donell Taylor and John Bryant, the Erie Bayhawks shot just 19-for-56 (33.9 percent) from the field on Sunday. Not good. Taylor looked terrific and nearly single-handedly kept his team in the game down the stretch with a 23-10-7 effort.
• The Los Angeles D-Fenders did a fine job moving the ball early on in their win over Bakersfield on Sunday. They came out intent on getting the ball to the low post, and several players came up with buckets on turnarounds and baby jumpers after establishing position and making catches on the right block.
• D-Fenders center Michael Fey has a soft touch on his baby jump hook with his left hand.
• Bakersfield’s Rodney Webb had three lay-up attempts emphatically blocked by fellows in yellow shirts Sunday night, but he came back with four swats of his own at the other end, albeit in a losing effort.

That about does it for us (read: me) for now.  We’ll be back Wednesday morning with more assorted ramblings on the happenings in the NBA D-League.  Until then, be sure to stick with us on Twitter, and we’ll catch ya on the flip side.